Chicken Biryani
Biryani is a mixed rice dish popular in South Asia, known for its explosion of flavour and elaborate process to make. This is a simplified version from Bon Appetit’s Sohla El-Waylly, which has the perfect combination of marinated chicken, fluffy rice, and tangy herbaceous raita. Because biryani is all about the rice, this is the time to splurge on some extra-long, premium aged basmati.
Total Time: 18 hours Active Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: 4/5
Tested: YES
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
Onion Raita and Chicken
1 lemon
½ tsp sugar
1½ cups whole-milk yogurt, divided
3 tsp kosher salt, divided
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper, divided
1 red onion
1 4" piece fresh ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, smashed, peeled
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cardamon
1½ lb. skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (4–6 thighs)
2 dried bay leaves
Rice and Assembly
3 tbsp olive oil
¾ cup kosher salt
2 cups aged basmati rice
1 red onion, thinly sliced
¾ cup melted ghee or vegetable oil
½ cup mixed coarsely chopped nuts, such as almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, and/or walnuts
1 tbsp sugar
¾ cup mixed dried fruit, such as prunes and/or cranberries
Method
Onion and Raita Chicken
Finely grate 1 tsp. lemon zest into a small bowl. Squeeze in juice from one half of the lemon. Add sugar, 1 cup yogurt, 1 tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. pepper. Finely chop one-quarter of the onion and stir into raita. Let sit at room temperature at least 1 hour or chill up to overnight.
Purée ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cardamom, juice of remaining lemon half, and remaining three-quarters of onion, ½ cup yogurt, 2 tsp. salt, and ¾ tsp. pepper in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl.
Using your hands, pull skin off chicken thighs and discard. (Don’t worry about any straggly bits of skin and fat; they will render out during cooking.) Transfer to bowl with ginger mixture, add bay leaves, and toss to combine. Cover with a plate and let marinate at room temperature at least 2 hours or preferably chill up to overnight.
Rice and Assembly
Place a rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 350°. Bring salt and 12 cups of water to a rapid boil in a large pot over high heat.
Meanwhile, rinse rice with cool tap water, use your hand to gently agitate the grains. Repeat at least 2 more times until water runs clear enough to see your hand through it.
Add drained rice all at once to boiling salted water. Initially the water will stop boiling and the rice will sink to the bottom. Stir a few times with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking, then stop stirring. After a couple of minutes, the water will return to a simmer and a few grains will begin appearing near the surface. The rice is ready to drain when the grains have nearly doubled in size, the water returns to a boil, and most of the rice rapidly bubbles to the surface. When you bite into a grain, you want to see a hard white core; just like pasta cooked al dente, the grains should remain firm. Depending on the quality of your rice, this can take anywhere from 3–7 minutes, so begin tasting the grains early. Drain rice and rinse with water until cool. Set aside.
Cook onion and ghee (or oil) in a 4–6-qt. Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until onions are golden and crisp, 8–10 minutes. The sides and bottom of pot may brown and even develop some char. Using a slotted spoon, transfer onions to a plate.
Reduce heat to medium-low and toast nuts in ghee (or oil) in same pot, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and darkened in colour, 2–3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer nuts to another plate; set aside for serving. Transfer half of ghee (or oil) in pot to a small bowl; set aside.
Increase heat to medium-high and sprinkle sugar over remaining ghee (or oil) in pot. Cook, stirring frequently, until sugar forms deeply caramelized clumps, 3–5 minutes. Add chicken, scraping in marinade, and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and arrange chicken and marinade in an even layer. Sprinkle with dried fruit and one-third of fried onions. Top with rice. Poke 5–7 holes into rice with the back of a wooden spoon until you reach the chicken. Drizzle reserved ghee over and top with another third of fried onions. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and return to medium heat. Cook until you can hear the chicken gurgling in the pot and wisps of steam just begin to escape from lid, about 5 minutes. Do not open the lid at any point! If you peek, you will risk losing too much steam, preventing the rice from properly cooking through. Transfer pot to oven and bake, covered, 45 minutes. Let rest at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour before uncovering.
Using a large spoon or small plate, gently scoop rice off chicken and transfer to a platter. Carefully spoon chicken thighs and any sauce over rice. Top with reserved fried nuts and remaining onions. Serve alongside onion raita.